A NURTURING and ambitious Colchester school has been praised by Ofsted inspectors in a new report. 

Queen Boudica Primary School, in Cowper Crescent, was inspected over two days last month before Ofsted officials published their findings online last Tuesday.

Officials’ conclusion the school is good means Queen Boudica maintains the strong rating it gained in its past two inspections.

Inspectors said bullying was "exceptionally rare" and teachers were praised for how they help pupils, some of whom speak very little English, to feel at home and progress in their education.

Pupils’ behaviour was also said to be exemplary, and their learning makes strong progress because of well-planned subjects set out by teachers.

Teachers were also commended for helping pupils learn outside academia with clubs and activities available for youngsters to take part in.

Pupils also take an active role in the community, including visits to a nearby care home.

Children with special educational needs and disabilities were also well catered for, with most SEND pupils still able to learn in a classroom with their peers, and teaching assistants also receiving training to help pupils who might need further support.

Some areas were highlighted as needing further attention, however, with inspectors noting some subjects still required more development.

One paragraph of the report read: “Currently, the developing subjects are too closely linked to other subjects, for example, art and design is linked to history.

“This confuses pupils.”

But Clare Woodward, headteacher at Queen Boudica Primary School, said the positive outcome of the inspection overall was a just reward for the staff’s hard work at the school.

She said: “We are particularly thrilled with the recognition of our pupils' exemplary behaviour and their hard-working attitudes to learning.

“Kindness and compassion are highly valued attributes which are modelled by both adults and children, and this shone through during our inspection.

“I would like to extend a very large vote of thanks to all our parents and wider families for their hard work and support of all that we do, and also to the whole staff team for their high levels of professional commitment and expertise."